Thankful Day Preparedness…

Lawd, have mercy.

The radio stations are already playing Christmas music 24/7 and this bitch is beyond over that shit.

Ugh!

Do they do it to punish us?

Huh?

The thing is, there aren’t that many Christmas songs…and recording artists tend to record the same ten songs and try to put their own spin on it, so the masses end up listening to one hundred different versions of Let it Fucking Snow (shudder).

It makes a bitch hostile as a motherfucker!!

Pause...consider...continue.

Mayhap this will inspire my ass to figure out how to make my I Pod play in Miss SisterGirl Cabrio.

Shit.

Fuck it.

Onward to Thankful Day preparedness!

Newish readers should know that a bitch is all about preparedness, particularly during the holidays. One wouldn’t want to bunker down for a four-day holiday weekend and find out that your ass is out of vodka (gasp!) or that you don't have a damn thing to munch upon.

Blink.

Thus, the list.

Food-based munchables…
Shark-Fu’s Corn Casserole Yumminess
Brother Rob Thurman's Green Bean Casserole
Mama Thurman's Stuffing
Sour Cream Potato Mash
Roasted bird
Bread-based something-or-other
C-Money’s Apple pie…it's mine, mine all MINE!!
C-money’s Sweet Potato pie
Ice cream…to put on the pie, for the love of al that’s fantabulous!
Ryan’s Divine Bread pudding…yumtastic!

Drinkables...
Vodka…duh.
Grape cran…duh to the second power.
Citrus-based soda pop
Bourbon…from Kentucky, natch.
Holiday beer…for C-Money
Diet Coke…for Brother Rob Thurman

Meds…
Allergy pills…approved for high blood pressure because a bitch takes my pressure seriously
Tylenol…because something is going to work my nerves at some point (wince)

Viewage…
Ordinary People…because ‘tis a tradition that puts this bitch in a holiday frame of mind (wink).
Red, White and Blue…if you have to ask then you don't need to know!

Fall-back films…
Watergate
Love Actually
The Exorcist...what?..as if you don't watch it every holiday...shit.

Blink.

Last but not least - for the dawgs…
Kibble and snackable dawg crisps
Chewing bones
And lots of people about to love on them!

Ah, the holidays...happy, happy, happy and joy times three!

Pondering the Get Over Its...

Let’s jump right in, shall we?

I was reading an article on the protests against Proposition 8 and several comments carried the “You lost – get over it!!” theme in support of Prop. 8.

I can’t even imagine the kind of life that lets a person think rights are decided like a hockey game tied after overtime. I’m thinking a person has to be pretty fucking blessed to feel comfortable with a winner takes all shoot-out. Shit, a bitch isn’t exactly comfortable with that solution during hockey games.

I mean, does that world view have limits?

Would the Get Over Its respond to everything that way?

I can just see them as characters in my new favorite television obsession, Battlestar Galactica.

“We’ve been invaded by Cylons! We lost - let's get over it!!”

Blink.

Anyhoo, this bitch suspects that these Get Over Its are also fans of gradualism. They probably think women would have gotten the vote…eventually. People of color would have gotten civil rights…simply with the passage of time. The Cylons would have come to regret their world domination and leave the humans alone…after a century or two.

Well, my people call that bullshit.

Patience ain’t a virtue in the struggle for equality and this bitch will not be getting over a motherfucking thing.

***logs off to begin marathon viewage of Battlestar Galactica Season Two***

By request – A Bitch’s thoughts on the transition thus far and some other shit…

A certain Rodney from Montreal (city of lights and Smartie-based goodness!!) sent this bitch an email with some requests.

Well Rodney, you asked for it!

Regarding Thanksgiving Preparedness.
Yes, a bitch will post my Thanksgiving preparedness list of needed things and include my recipe for Corn Casserole Yummification.

Gawd, I love food-based holidays!

Regarding the Democratic Caucus forgiving Senator Lieberman.
Hmmm....well, that’s best explored through the musical brilliance of the Dixie Chicks.

I’m not ready to make nice!
I’m not ready to back down!
I’m still mad as hell and I don’t have time to go round and round and round.
It’s too late to make it right!
I probably wouldn’t if I could!
‘Cause I’m mad as hell...can’t bring myself to do what it is you think I should!

Cough.

A bitch gets the logical shit about keeping one’s enemies close, but there’s a difference between monitoring that asshole and handing him his knife back then turning your back on his ass. As for his future vote on critical shit, a bitch has a hard time believing Democrats can count on that shit anymore than they could count on him behaving during the campaign.

Plus there’s the lost opportunity to send a strong message to those who may ponder showing their natural ass in support of The Dark Side in the future…but ‘tis done.

Sigh.

As for my thoughts on the Obama transition thus far…
A bitch must confess that I’ve been a wee bit distracted by the fact that my home state of Missouri took for-fucking-ever to count our General Election votes (for the love of…fuck, fuck and another fuck!!).

We finally finished...and thank Gawd the nation wasn't waiting on us to decide a damn thing...so I promise to be more attentive.

I did notice the development of a theme that the selection of Clinton-era folks for certain positions means that not a damn thing is going to change but the date come January.

On a case-by-case basis, I’m not convinced that is true…but it makes for good copy. This bitch would prefer that the press focus on the series of lame-duck rancidity Scooter B. and his minions are trying to squirt through as our long national nightmare comes to an end…but I’m not driving the spin bus.

Regarding the much speculated upon selection of Senator Clinton as Secretary of State, that’s the pick that probably inspires “will this lead to change?” speculation for a bitch.

Shit…catch that knee before some body gets hurt!

Mercy.

My concern comes from the difference in diplomatic policy expressed by Clinton and Obama during the campaign. This bitch is looking forward to some serious bridge building and relationship repairing on the international stage and I have to wonder if Senator Clinton can sing someone else’s song. Soloists don’t always blend well in a choir…I’m just saying.

But a bitch recalls the past underestimation of the decision-making skills of Team Obama. For all the talk of the media’s adoration of Obama 2008 during the campaign, a bitch remembers a steady beat of doubt and second-guessing all the way up to the decisive win on Election Day.

The balance between selecting the experienced people needed to make shit happen (and trust a bitch, skills are needed) and the out-of-the-box thinkers needed to make the right shit happen will be daunting to establish and tricky to maintain.

And it is that balance that this bitch is looking for as the transition proceeds and selections continue to be made.

Right now, the puzzle is far from complete...

Survey for Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region

This one goes out to my St. Louis readers.

Please take a moment to help the fantabulous folks at Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region by filling out this survey.

Click here, damn it (wink)!

It only takes a few minutes and all answers will be kept confidential.

Thanks!

Bracing for fubar…

Let’s jump right on in, shall we?

A bitch has been watching coverage of the hearings with auto industry CEOs and the stock market too.

Pause…check blood pressure…continue.

What the fuck?

I repeat, WHAT THE FUCK!!!?

Who the hell takes a private jet to a bailout hearing where they then beg for money? That was one huge FUCK YOU to strategery, assholes.

And where do we go from here?

***cue crickets***

Shit!

As much as a bitch shares the disgust over the ways and means of auto industry CEOs, I’m beyond worried about the impact the failure of that industry will have on communities across the nation.

Hell, it’s not just the auto industry…we’re bracing for layoffs in almost every business category.

In my community we have plants preparing to close…businesses going out of business…take-overs that will most likely result in layoffs…and all manner of shops and services that serve all those businesses that are now positioned perfectly to achieve fubar before the end of the year.

It’s like waiting for an attack you know will fucking devastate you.

And after every news segment covering economic drama this bitch mentally explores the options…umm, err the lack of options.

What business will come into town and replace the jobs already lost and those soon to be lost?

What industry will surge and replace the industries that are dying?

Pause...listen...continue.

Well, at least crickets are working overtime.

Blink.

Belated Kick Ass Award pictures

A bitch rarely posts pictures of myself, but C-Money managed to sweet talk Jonathan S. Pollack of J. Pollack Photography into taking shots of me during the Kick Ass Awards event and now she’s all over my ass to post them.


Check out J. Pollack’s website – the man has skills and he made my sister happy!


Congrats to my fellow ass kickers and thank you to everyone at 52nd City for the honor!

Oh, and that's the back of C-Money's Afro - I'm just saying.

Toodles!

Hit the lights, hush and it’ll be more better…

A bitch has been following the consequences of Nebraska’s Safe Haven law with great interest. Safe Haven laws are supposed to protect newborns and infants from unsafe abandonment by shielding parents from legal prosecution should they leave their child at a designated Safe Haven location. Nebraska’s law apparently does not specify an age limit and that has resulted in older children and teens being dropped off at Safe Havens.

The response to this has been fascinating. Some Nebraska lawmakers have accused parents of casually abandoning their children as if selfishness is the only reason a parent would ever utilize a Safe Haven for an older child. The media has frenzied over stories of large families being torn apart and parents driving across the country to deposit their teen at Nebraska emergency rooms.

What is lost is the window into reality that this so-called mistake offers.

Or maybe it isn’t lost.

Maybe some people want that shit to remain in darkness…out of sight and blessedly out of mind.

What they see is a law that needs to be rewritten to clarify the precise age when legal abandonment becomes illegal so parents will no longer be able to abandon older children.

What I see is an example of how society fails to meet the needs of parents, children and families and an opportunity to address that shit.

And that’s an uncomfortable thing for many Americans to confront. After all, state after state has been working feverishly to pass laws and propositions that are allegedly designed to protect families and marriage…children and society. The last thing supporters of all that paper want to hear is that they’ve moved all their troops to the western front of a war being waged in the east.

Hit the lights.

Why oh why examine the real pressures families face…poverty and the fear of hunger, homelessness and the fear of violence, mental health issues and the lack of options and so forth and so on.

Hush!

‘Tis much easier to just turn out the lights…rewrite the law and toss all those cases into a box labeled Not My Fucking Problem.

And it’ll be more better.

Right?

***cue crickets***

Shit.

Less a prank and more a symptom…

A bitch just read this article about the surge in racist acts post-election. The article is brief and describes the acts as mostly pranks that “haven't posed any real danger to society or the president-elect”.

Although this bitch agrees that there is a difference between a physical attack and someone spray painting racist graffiti on a wall, I have to disagree with whether that shit is a real danger.

Racism and bigotry eat away at society. Symbols of racism and bigotry that are not taken seriously create the feeling of freakish agreement…that other people feel the same way and that the expressions of hate is okay.

But the real power of these so-called pranks is how they jump up in a person’s head.

A cross-burned under the cloak of darkness in front of a person’s house makes the victim question every stranger…her or his neighbors…and wonder who hates them that much. The victim wonders why their house was spared and what act will be next.

So, a bitch has little tolerance for those who casually dismiss acts of hate…who try to explain them away as unfortunate jokes of youthful misbehavior.

These acts have power and that is why they are being investigated and monitored.

But ig’nant acts of hate also identify a disease in need of treatment.

They can inspire the silent to publicly voice their support and those who are skeptical that racism still exists to question that opinion.

And they can empower communities to get about the business of doing the inner work required to advance beyond hate…beyond tolerance…toward respect.

All that is possible only if folks incidents or hate for what they are…less a prank and more a symptom of something real that has been festering below the surface.

And we have miles upon miles yet to walk…

Post Prop. 8 protest reflection…

Earlier today a bitch joined 1,400 of my fellow activists in support of equality and in protest against passage of Prop. 8 in California.

It was cold as hell (shiver...wince...and shiver again) but people showed up and added their voices to the chorus calling for equality and social justice.

Fantabulous!

I was inspired to see so many young people and student activists in the crowd. These youth are fired up and ready to get active…and they give me hope for the future.

This bitch hopes that folks will stick with this and organize.

We stand on the side of justice, y’all.

And the one thing we did right was the day we started to fight.

Keep your eyes on the prize.

Hold on!

Let the defubarization begin!

A bitch is finally feeling recovered from the election rush! Missouri may still be up in the air…and Lawd knows we love to take our damn time with post-election counting sessions (wince)…but we’ve got to move on and get about the bitness of defubarization.

Pause…roll up sleeves…continue.

Shall we?

This bitch adores a good debrief. I’ve participated in many event-based things and even a successful happening has areas in need of improvement. So, I’m more than a little eager to dig under the scabs covering the wounds of soon-to-be previous administrations.

Why?

So we the people have a better understanding of just how fucked up shit was and can make the adjustments necessary to prevent that mess in the future.

Catch that knee before you hurt somebody!

No, we haven’t just spent two years doing that. Elections aren’t debriefs…they are festivals of spin where facts often get trampled.

And 'tis facts that shall set us free.

Let’s start with Missouri…’cause I live here, damnit.

Governor Matt Blunt was fucked up from the floor up on day one, but folks stopped talking about some of the specific fucktitude the second he declared his fiendish mission accomplished and took his own rancid ass off the statewide stage.

Yay.

He’s gonna get gone.

But as anxious as we all are to see the south side of a northbound Blunt, this bitch thinks we should look through the trash before it gets tossed out to make room for Governor-elect Nixon.

Governor Blunt’s administration is accused of improperly using campaign technology to communicate state business…of having no protocol for the handling of email communications…and of purging communications that may contain evidence of who the fuck knows what.

Lawsuits have been filed and investigations are on going.

On one hand a bitch would like to know why Blunt’s minions apparently got Nixonian…tricky Dick not Jeremiah…and indulged in a lot of delete, empty trash and then repeat.

I see that many flies and this bitch knows there’s a pile of bullshit somewhere.

But on the other hand, a bitch wants to understand the nature of Blunt-based fubar so I can make sure we clarify that shit for the new Governor.

The same shit applies to our federal government...and members of the outgoing crew who appear a wee bit anxious to get out the door.

Our long national nightmare may be coming to an end…

…but those who forget the shit that makes absolute fubar possible are doomed to repeat it.

This bitch and the 52nd City Kick Ass Awards...

A bitch has been nominated for a Kick Ass Award from those fantabulous folks at 52nd City!

Blink

Oh my!

***fluffs Afro***

The Fifth Annual edition of St. Louis Kick Ass Awards will be held on Thursday, November 13, with a live presentation at Joe's Café, Bill Christman's whimsical, one-of-a-kind, retro-futuristic (and booze-free) music venue in the heart of the Skinker-Debalivere neighborhood. The awards will begin at 7:00 p.m. and will run until approximately 9 p.m., with doors opening at 6:30 p.m.

The St. Louis edition of the Kick Ass Awards launched in the early winter of 2004, based on the popular Austin, TX, event begun earlier that year by writer/raconteur Spike Gillespie. Since then, nearly 70 St. Louis individuals, organizations and other entities have been honored by the publishers of 52nd City, who promote this annual event, dedicated to folks in the community who often don't get the praise they deserve… or, in other cases, folks that the publishers of 52nd City really, really dig. (For a full list of previous winners, you can check:www.kickassawards.blogspot.com.)

This bitch would like to thank the publishers of 52nd City for this...umm, kick ass honor (wink)!

Prop. 8 protest in St. Louis...

Join the Impact

Protest Prop 8 St. Louis city

On Saturday November 15 2008, across the United States cities will stand with California in a public protest regarding the recent outcome of Proposition 8.

At 12 Noon, the St. Louis community will gather at the Old Courthouse (Broadway and Market Streets) and speak out against Proposition 8 and the issues around equality and Civil Rights.

Website - http://ShowMeNoHate.blogspot.com

Join the cause, join the voice, and JOIN THE IMPACT!

A bitch hopes to see you Saturday...

Yes, they did…

A bitch is rested, y’all.

Shall we?

On Election Day millions shifted their rally cries from "Yes We Can!" to "Yes We Did!"…but not all of those folks were talking about President Elect Obama’s victory. Anti-equality activists had a series of victories over justice in California, Florida, Arizona, and Arkansas. Like thousands of equality activists across the country, I am struggling to reconcile Obama’s historic victory with the denials of equality passed into law at the same damn time.

In California anti-equality extremists funded the push that resulted in passage of Proposition 8 that bans same-sex marriage.

62% of Floridians passed the so-called “Marriage Protection Amendment,” banning all recognition of and benefits for unmarried couples, both straight and gay.

Arizona went the route of Missouri in 2004, passing Proposition 102 with 56 percent of voter and amending their state constitution to recognize marriage as limited to unions of one man and one woman. Like Missouri, same-sex marriage was already illegal in Arizona and this move is strategic to block any action through the courts.

And Arkansas voters passed the “Unmarried Couple Adoption Ban,” that makes it illegal for any unmarried couple living together in the state to adopt children or serve as foster parents. 57% of voters passed that rancid piece of shit into law. State law and the state constitution already ban same-sex marriage.

When people ask me whether the election of this nation’s first president of color means America has instantly become a more just and equal society, those are the Election Day disasters that make a bitch look at them like they’ve lost their damned mind.

But we have just begun to fight.

An injustice to one remains an injustice to all.

There will be a nationwide protest against passage of Proposition 8 Saturday November 15…I’ll post details on the St. Louis protest as soon as I get them.

And, just for kicks, a bitch would like to point out that man on woman marriage is threatened by a lot of shit…families struggle because of lots of pressures…but same-sex marriage isn’t one of them.

Missouri banned same-sex marriage in 2004…

…and if we had a dollar for every failed man on woman union or divorce filed since that ban this nation would have our motherfucking surplus back.

Blink.

Friday!

The frenzy of the last couple of weeks has caught up to me and a bitch is sluggish as hell.

A good kind of sluggish but still the mental equivalent of walking through waist deep mud.

Thank Gawd today is Friday, y'all!

I'm taking the day off from bitchitude to rest my mind so toodles until tomorrow...

Decisions, decisions and more decisions…

All manner of political talking heads are getting their speculation on over who will be appointed to what and why in the new Obama Administration.

A bitch would like to explore the challenge of deciding shit through one key selection about to be made…the choosing of the First Dawg.

A bitch is always amazed by how many people select their canine companions based on looks. I know people who purchased designer dawgs because the breed was in fashion…or they liked how the dawg's coat matched their décor…or they just wanted something they could fit in their handbag.

But dawgs have personalities…just like people. And, just as we should not select a cabinet member simply because they have an impressive resume, we should not select a canine companion just because they are the breed of the moment or have been bio-engineered not to bark at the mail-person.

I’m serious!

What if the soon-to-be First Family wound up with a dawg that they selected because it didn’t shed only to find out that it had a history of doubting the metal abilities of women and may or may not have created an atmosphere of extreme tension during it’s tenure at a certain Ivy League university?

Blink.

They might not have to deal with the allergies inspired by pet dander, but just think about the other drama they'd get in exchange!

Sigh.

Anyhoo, a bitch recommends that everyone consider canine adoption carefully and weigh the realities of their lifestyle with the potential dawg's personality and temperament.

Start at local shelters…ask if fostering is available…and be prepared for pee in the residence since a bitch is certain the scent of Barney’s legacy will linger for years to come.

...when we the people make it happen.

A bitch is still struggling to put into words what I am feeling right now.

I must confess that I didn’t believe an Obama win was possible until they called it on the telly (Brother Rob Thurman was quick to call a bitch and remind me that he was right…and I’m thrilled enough to take that shit graciously).

I’m going to relish this indescribable feeling today…allow my soul to fill with the emotion of knowing that my Father, may he rest in peace, would be so thrilled that he lived to witness this…and let my sore as hell feet heal a bit (wince).

But tomorrow we begin.

President Elect Obama inherits a towering mass of drama and the daunting task of dealing with it.

And our work…the work of social justice…begins today.

Elections give us tools that we call politicians. It is our job to use the hell out of them…to hold them accountable and to work with them to bring about change.

So get your party on, y’all.

As soon as Missouri finishes the count (Lawd, have mercy…get it done, people!!) and bitch will dust my Afro off and get to it.

Because this moment…these twilightesque weeks between Election Day and inaugurations…is when major shit goes down.

We have not reached the mountaintop, however exciting this historic moment may be.

With many states passing inequality into law…with so many in economic peril…with our nation still at war…and with reproductive justice still under attack…we have a lot of work to do.

And you’d better believe this bitch is fired up and ready to go!

Change happens…

…when we the people make it happen.

Been walking the walk...

Literally.

Sorry for the delay, y'all!

This bitch has been getting my canvass on with a certain Michele and Alison from Planned Parenthood Affiliates in Missouri (see, I told you I'd give you a shout-out...wink)...and then I put in another round with my good friend Ryan who charmed me out of my exhausted funk.

A nod of the Afro to my fellow activists...you are amazing.

Anyhoo, Happy Election Day!

I hope everyone took the time to savor the beauty of the vote. Enjoy the moment and know that this right was won through the courage and actions of many who are no longer with us.

As I drove to meet my fellow canvassers this morning...and we're talking serious morning, people (wince)...I cruised by a polling place on Delmar and saw a line that led all the way down the sidewalk.

I can't remember the last time I saw a line at a polling place in the city.

Fantabulous!

A bitch is off for my final round.

Feet tired.

Soul inspired.

A bitch’s vote-based request…

This bitch got my absentee vote on last week!

I’m scheduled to work polls in the county on Election Day, so my city-based self needed to take care of my patriotic duty early!

Longtime readers know that I adore voting but I’d never voted absentee before. I was a wee bit worried that it wouldn’t be the same…that it would lack the emotional rush I get when I vote on Election Day. But as I filled out my ballot the rush was there…the thrill of finally being able to make my choices official and doing so in a crowd of fellow voters…it was fantabulous!

But many of y’all will head to the polls Tuesday November 4th and this bitch wants to make a simple request of you.

***steps up onto soapbox***

Ahem.

With all the frenzified anticipation surrounding the presidential race it is easy to forget that there is a lot of other shit…a lot of very important other shit…on the ballot.

State Senate races, State Rep. races...here in Missouri we have the Governor’s race and the A.G. race, proposals and initiatives...and so forth and so on.

Those of us who have worked our asses off on state campaigns need voters to complete the ballot!

Mmmhmmm, y’all need to commit to finishing it…flip it over and work your way down to the bottom (blink) …COMPLETE IT, DAMN IT!

Pause…collect self…continue.

In the words of the SOS Band…baby we can do it!

Take the time.

Do it right.

***steps down off of soapbox with that song stuck in my Afro***